India, Aug. 6 -- The Government should undertake a comprehensive review of the functioning of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and formulate a roadmap for the "next generation of panchayat reforms" to strengthen democratic decentralisation, financial sustainability and citizen participation, a parliamentary committee has recommended.

In a report tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj said that while PRIs have emerged as important instruments of democratic decentralisation over the past three decades, several structural challenges continue to persist.

"The Committee are of the considered view that after more than three decades of experience, the...